Part 2 - On the sort of life

Gist: In the hells, deserving of note are ten item—Life-span, Constitution, Physical frame, Bone-structure, Shape and Tinge, Outlook, Knowledge, Activities, Cognition.

Q. 169. Bhante! What is stated to be the span of life of each one of the infernal occupants of the 30,00,000 cells in the Ratnaprabhā hell?

A. 169. Gautama! Their life has been stated to have countless spans, a minimum of 10,000 years, then plus one time unit, plus two time units, and so on...till countless time units so added,...till the maximum span, the best that fits in with each¹¹⁰.

Q. 170. Bhante! Are the infernal beings with the minimum span of life residing in each one of these 30,00,000 cells in the Ratnaprabhā hell in possession of anger, of pride, of deceit, of greed?

A. 170. Gautama! All of them are in possession of anger, or, many with anger and one with pride, or, many with anger and many with pride, or, many with anger and one with deceit, or, many with anger and many with deceit, or, many with anger and one with greed, or, many with anger and many with greed, or, many with anger, one with pride and one with deceit, or, many with anger, one with pride and many with deceit, or, many with anger, many with pride and one with deceit, oṇ many with anger, many with pride, and many with deceit. In this manner, are to be stated the forms by four's comprising of anger, pride and greed, and by four’s comprising of anger, deceit and greed. Thus 12 forms. Then (starting with) pride in combination with deceit, greed in combination with anger, then leaving aside anger, and thus 27 forms in all¹¹¹.

Q. 171. Bhante! Are the infernal beings, with span of life at the minimum plus one time unit more, residing in each one of the 30,00,000 cells of the Ratanappabhā hell, in possession of anger, of pride, of deceit, of greed¹¹²?

A. 171. Gautama! Sometimes one is in possession of anger, sometimes one is in possession of pride, sometimes one is in possession of deceit, sometimes one is in possession of greed. Sometimes many are in possession of anger, sometimes many are in possession of pride, sometimes many are in possession of deceit, sometimes, many are in possession of greed. Or, one with anger, one with pride; or, one with anger, many with pride; and like this, 80 forms in all, and so on...till life-span with a countable number of time units in excess, life-span with a countless number of time units in excess, and maximum life-span, that fits in with each, in 27 forms.

Notes (based on commentary of Abhayadeva Sūri):

110. The smallest unit of time which is not further divisible is called ‘samaya’. If with the minimum (called jahaṇṇiyā) life-span, one time-unit is added, it becomes minimum plus one; likewise minimum plus two, minimum plus three, and so on, till the maximum (called uggukkosia) life-span is obtained. Between the minimum and the maximum, therefore, there are innumerable intermediate positions, making the total of varieties innumerable.

111. The consideration is about infernal beings in the first hell called Ratnaprabhā, with a minimum life-span, and in possession of anger (most dominant characteristic in hells), pride, attachment and greed, for whom 27 forms as given below are relevant:

As single item (e.g., anger many; and so on.)—1;
By two’s (e.g., anger many, pride one; anger many, pride many; and so on.)—6;
By three’s (e.g., anger many, pride one, attachment one; and so on.)—12;
By all four’s (e.g., anger many, pride one, attachment one, greed one; and so on.)—8;
     =27

112. The consideration is about infernal beings with minimum plus one time-unit more span of life in the first hell, for whom 80 forms as given below are relevant:

As single items, in singular as well as plural (e.g., anger one, anger many: and so on.)—8;
By two’s (e.g., anger one, pride one; and so on.)—24;
By three’s (e.g., anger one, pride one, attachment one; and so on.)—32;
By four’s (e.g., anger one, pride one, attachment one, greed one; and so on.)—16;
     =80

The position is summarised as follows:

1. For infernals with minimum life-span—27 forms;
2. For infernals with minimum plus one till a countable number of time-units more—80 forms;
3. For infernals with minimum plus innumerable time-units more till those with maximum life-span—27 forms;

Of the above three, infernals of the first type are always to be found and are many in number; so are the infernals of the third type; infemals of the second type, which are few, are sometimes to be found and sometimes not to be found.